


I'd Never Let It Go This Time (A Reddie Band AU)

by clownmoviefanatic



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), Angst with a Happy Ending, Band Fic, Beverly Marsh Knows Everything, Beverly Marsh is a Good Friend, Bill Denbrough Doesn't Stutter, Bisexual Eddie Kaspbrak, Eddie Kaspbrak & Beverly Marsh Are Best Friends, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak is a Mess, Explicit Language, Gay Richie Tozier, Jealous Connor Bowers, Multi, Oblivious Richie Tozier, Richie Tozier & Stanley Uris Are Best Friends, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier is a Little Shit, Slow Burn, Stanley Uris Knows All, Stanley Uris is a Good Friend
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:07:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26206153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clownmoviefanatic/pseuds/clownmoviefanatic
Summary: Eddie started writing music when he was eight years old and had fallen in love with a certain "Trashmouth" who he was best friends with. 14 years later and Eddie is still writing music and is still painfully in love with Richie Tozier. They live together with their friend Stan and see the other losers daily, with Eddie escaping into his music when he's alone in his room at the end of the day.One day, Bev suggests that the losers form a band after hearing one of Eddie's songs. With Eddie essentially heading the charge as the band's lead singer and primary songwriter, he inevitably gets wrapped up in the extra attention he gets from Richie during the pair's bi-weekly songwriting sessions.Suddenly, a guy named Connor Bowers inserts himself into the Loser's lives when he and Richie start dating, crushing Eddie in the process. Eddie tries to be nice, but Connor makes it clear from the very beginning that he doesn't like Eddie, and will do whatever he can to get him out of the way.All Eddie wants is for Richie to see him and understand what he's saying with his songs. Is that really too much to ask?
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough/Mike Hanlon, Connor Bowers/Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Original Female Character(s), Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Patricia Blum Uris/Stanley Uris
Kudos: 12





	1. The Lovers Club

**Author's Note:**

> This story is heavily inspired by Men and Phantoms by @StrightjacketAvi here on ao3 (you should definitely read it if you haven't yet), but I wanted to do my own version. The way I would describe this fic is "Friends to Enemies to Lovers", so let's have fun shall we?
> 
> I did not write ANY of the songs used in this fic, I just chose them because I love them and they make narrative sense to me and I will make sure to credit the artists and give the titles of the songs in the notes of the chapter they appear in.
> 
> The title of this story comes from the song True Love from the show Liv and Maddie (a song that is going to be very important as the story progresses)
> 
> This story will primarily be from Eddie's POV (but will switch on occasion)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hey, Rich have you seen my notebook?” Eddie yelled from his room, as he tore up his room, “I can’t find it” Richie entered the room with a smug look on his face. “This one?” Eddie turned to look at the lanky boy in his doorway, eyes widening when he saw his songbook in Richie’s hand. “Well Eds, I’m going to take that face as a yes, what I don’t understand is why you had to tear up your room to find it,” he said as he went to look into the book. “If you don’t put that down, I will literally throw your guitar out the window.” 
> 
> “Fine, keep your secrets Eddie Spaghetti,” Richie said throwing the notebook at Eddie
> 
> God, Eddie was so in love with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song(s) used this chapter: 
> 
> Mr Loverman by Ricky Montgomery
> 
> I will tell you when to start playing the song if you want to listen along to the story

“Hey, Rich have you seen my notebook?” Eddie yelled from his room, as he tore up his room, “I can’t find it” Richie entered the room with a smug look on his face. “This one?” Eddie turned to look at the lanky boy in his doorway, eyes widening when he saw his songbook in Richie’s hand. “Well Eds, I’m going to take that face as a yes, what I don’t understand is why you had to tear up your room to find it,” he said as he went to look into the book. “If you don’t put that down, I will literally throw your guitar out the window.” 

“Fine, keep your secrets Eddie Spaghetti,” Richie said throwing the notebook at Eddie

God, Eddie was so in love with him.

“That’s not my name, Dickwad” Eddie said, trying to hide his faltering voice and the evergrowing blush on his face, “also, when are the others getting here?”

“They all said around 3, but with LA traffic, it’ll probably be closer to 9,” Richie said smirking.

\---

Eddie and the other Losers moved to LA about four and a half years ago for college, all of them being accepted into UCLA. During that time, most of the Losers Club had gotten together, Ben finally confessing his feelings for Bev, Mike and Bill had fallen for each other, and even Stan met his perfect match in a girl named Patty Blum. Eddie and Richie were still single, having been in love with each other but refusing to acknowledge it.

After graduating, they all made sure to find apartments close to one other, and each had their respective roommates. The only couple not living together was Stan and Patty, only because Patty was getting her doctorate in child psychology at the University of Kansas and Stan wanted to stay in LA with the other losers. So Stan moved in with Eddie and Richie, making it so they could afford the bigger apartment they all said could be their LA version of The Clubhouse. Eddie had lived with Richie throughout college, so they only had to get used to being in separate rooms and Stan living with them. 

\---

Eddie checked his phone as he walked out of his room, seeing a new text from Bev.

Red: How’s it going with rich, have you told him yet?

Smol Bean: Of course not, I can’t bev. It would ruin everything. He’d get all weird, so i’ll get all weird and then everyone will start acting weird, and before you know it, the losers club breaks up, and it’s all my fault.

Red: We both know that won’t happen

Smol Bean: When are you guys going to be here

Red: we’re walking up now, and we're not done talking about this

Smol Bean: Yes we are :)

  
  


\---

A couple of hours later, the losers were all hanging out around the apartment, when Eddie realized that he didn’t know where Bev was, looking around, and suddenly sees her walk out of his room, looking through his songbook, which he only then realizes he forgot to hide. 

“Eddie, what is this?” Bev asks, smiling. “I didn’t know you wrote music.”

“Yeah, no one does Bev, or at least did,” Eddie says, scowling at her and snatching his songbook from her.

“That’s what’s in your book Eds?” Richie asks, laughing, “That’s what you’ve had to hide from me for the past 4 years?” Eddie looks away, tears starting to well up in his eyes.

“Let’s hear one,” Bev says, picking up on Eddie’s distress, “Richie, go get me your guitar”

“Why do I have to get it?”

“Because you’re a dumbass,” Stan says from the corner, also picking up on Eddie’s discomfort.

“FINE!” Richie huffs as he walks back to his room, coming back out a few seconds later holding his guitar and bringing it over to Bev.

Bev looks through the first few songs in the notebook until she stumbles upon one that grabs her attention. “How about this one?” she asks gently, Bev being the person who knows that Eddie has always been insecure about his writing, with him once tearing up a creative writing assignment in sophomore year because she had said that a couple of sentences were run-ons after he asked her to proofread it for him. Luckily, this time it wasn’t much of an issue as Eddie quietly nodded to Bev before moving to sit next to her. 

Bev started strumming the chords of his song, and Eddie began to sing, head hanging low.

_(Start playing the song now)_

“I'm headed straight for the floor, the alcohol served its tour, and it's headed straight for my skin, leaving me daft and dim. I've got this shake in my legs shaking the thoughts from my head. But who put these waves in the door? I crack and out I pour.”

“I'm Mr. Loverman and I miss my lover, man.” Eddie briefly lifted his head to look at Richie, only to notice nothing less than pure wonderment in his beautiful, dark eyes.

“I'm Mr. Loverman, oh and I miss my lover.” 

“The ways in which you talk to me have me wishin' I were gone. The ways that you say my name, have me runnin' on and on. Oh, I'm cramping up I'm cramping up, but you're cracking up, you're cracking up.” 

“I'm Mr. Loverman, and I miss my lover, man. I'm Mr. Loverman, oh and I miss my lover. I've shattered now I'm spilling out upon this linoleum ground. I'm reeling in my brain again before it can get back to you.”

“Oh, what am I supposed to do without you?” Suddenly, Eddie could feel Richie’s eyes on him, but not in a way he had before, almost as if Richie was truly seeing him for the first time.

“I'm Mr. Loverman and I miss my lover, man. I'm Mr. Loverman, oh and I miss my lover. I'm Mr. Loverman and I miss my lover, man. I'm Mr. Loverman”.

“And I miss my lover.” Eddie finished out the song, a slight blush covering his face, looking down, worrying about what the others (especially Richie) had to say.

The silence is deafening, swallowing Eddie whole until he hears, “Holy shit Eddie! That was incredible, why would you hide this from us?” Bill asks “And when did you learn to sing like that?” Mike adds.

“He’s always been able to sing,” Richie says quietly, almost as if he didn’t realize he was saying it.

Eddie finally looked up at the others, confused, as if not able to process the fact that other people liked his songs. “You guys actually like it?”

“Obviously Eddie, I don’t understand why you think we would lie about this,” Bev says laughing. “Hell, I would suggest that we start a band if anyone else other than you, me, and Richie were able to play instruments.”

“Babe, you do remember that I play the drums right?” Ben mutters, confused, “I have that drum set in storage that my mom sent over from Derry.”

“Yeah, and I can play bass and piano,” Mike says, “I just have never had a reason to show or tell you guys about it. So really, we have no reason not to start a band.”

Eddie looks around at the others nervously, then finally, his gaze settles on Richie, who hadn’t spoken since the song ended, which was odd because Eddie had never been able to get him to shut up before, not that he had ever really wanted to. Richie looked lost in thought, causing Eddie to panic, beginning to worry that Richie had figured out that the song was about him. Luckily, before Eddie was completely swallowed by that idea, Richie sprang up from the couch.

“Let’s do it!” Richie said enthusiastically, “We just need a name.”

“What about we just keep it simple with ‘The Losers’, I mean we already call ourselves that,” Ben suggested. “It’s a good start,” Eddie says contemplatively, “but a part of me wants to keep that just for us, you know?”

“Hey Eds, do you remember when you broke your arm that one summer?” Eddie looked over to Richie. “Not my name, but I do. Why?”

“Do you remember what we changed what Greta’s ‘signature’ to?” Eddie’s eyes suddenly light up with realization, as he and Richie both excitedly shout out their shared idea, “The Lovers Club!”

Bev suddenly chirped up, “That’s perfect! It’s similar enough to still have a connection to, and most of our lovers in one way or another,”, her eyes darting to Eddie at that last part. Eddie noticed and flipped her off as soon as no one else was looking, causing her to laugh. 

\---

They all continued to talk about the band for hours into the night until they decided on the following roles: Eddie would be the lead singer, Richie would lead guitar, Bev would sing backup vocals and play backup guitar, Mike was on bass, Ben was on the drums, Bill would be in charge of social media (for some reason, he was the most in tune with aesthetics and other stuff like that then the other losers), and Stan would be the band’s manager. Richie also had a bit of songwriting experience, so he and Eddie decided to work on new songs together at least once a week, with Bev deciding to help occasionally, as she wanted to learn how to write music as well.

Eventually, the other losers realized that it was about time to head back to their apartments, but all of them promised to come over in the next two days to start practicing some of Eddie’s other songs, only delaying so Ben could get his drums out of storage.

“Well, since the others are gone, I’m going to go to bed,” Stan said before walking back to his room. 

Once Stan had closed his door, Eddie looked over at Richie, suddenly remembering what he had said earlier that evening. “How did you know that I have a good voice?”

“What are you talking about?” Richie asked. 

“After I finished singing, you thought nobody was listening, or that no one heard you, but you said that I’ve always had a good voice. And normally I wouldn’t think much of it, only, I’ve never sung for anyone before tonight,” Eddie said, walking even closer to Richie.

“Listen Eds-”

“Still not my name.”

“Whenever you took a shower when I was over, you would sing. I first realized it was you when we were 14 and after that, I guess a part of me always made sure to listen,” Richie looked down, and Eddie could almost swear that Richie’s cheeks started to turn pink, but before he could confirm this, Richie looked away.

“Christ Eds, the sound of your voice, even then, was better than hearing your mom moa-”

“Beep Beep Richie!” Eddie shouted, hitting Richie in the arm, “Jeez can you not bring up fucking my mom for one night?”

“No can do, the love your mom and I share can never be contained,” Richie responded, subconsciously moving even closer to Eddie.

“Will you guys please shut up!” Stan yelled from his room at the end of the hall, causing Richie and Eddie to flinch. They had completely forgotten he even lived in the same apartment as them. They also hadn’t seemed to notice just how close they had gotten until that moment.

Richie stepped back, almost sheepishly. “Well Spaghetti Man, that’s my cue to turn in, I wouldn't want to be too tired to see your mom tomorrow,” Richie winked as he turned around.

Eddie watched Richie wander back into his room like he did every night, and for the first time in years, Eddie forgot to correct Richie about the nickname he swears he hates. All he could do was stare at him with love in his eyes. But at some point, Eddie realized he was staring at an empty hallway, and walked back to his room. However, instead of going to sleep, he wrote a new song and didn’t stop working until the song was finished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, that was the first chapter of "I'd Never Let Go This Time", this is the first story I've ever written, so I'm sorry if it's really shitty, but I hope you'll stick around because I'm really excited for where this story is going to go.
> 
> There will probably be about one song per chapter, but I'm not sure if I'll make a playlist or not.
> 
> Also, the chapters after this one will most likely be song lyrics (which I will also make sure to credit in the notes), and I will just be updating whenever I finish, and am confident, with each chapter.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you have a good day :)


	2. Chapter 2: Is The Waiting All I've Ever Done?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What was up with my song the other day?”
> 
> The words spilled out a lot differently than he had planned them to. “What do you mean?” Richie wondered.
> 
> “Both days we worked on ‘True Love’ you looked like you hated it. So what’s wrong with it? I put a lot of time into that song, and if there’s a reason you don’t like it, I feel like I deserve to know.” 
> 
> “It’s nothing Eds.”
> 
> “That’s bullshit and you know it Rich. Just tell me what’s wrong with the song and we can fix it.”
> 
> “Just drop it Eds, okay? Let’s just get back to writing.”
> 
> “Not until you tell me what’s wrong! Look, that song means a lot to me, but if you’re that uncomfortable with it, we don’t have to do it. I can write another song and we can just forget-”
> 
> “I’m not uncomfortable with it,” Richie said, a look of guilt coming over his face. Eddie panicked, thinking it meant that Richie realized that the song was about him and how now he’s going to have to reject Eddie. 
> 
> “It just doesn’t sound like you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song Lyrics Used in Chapter Title: Older by Ben Platt
> 
> Song Used in this Chapter: True Love (Piano Duet) by Dove Cameron and Jordan Fisher
> 
> Like last chapter, I will let you know when to start playing the song if you want to listen along and have the full musical experience

The next week passed by like a blur for Eddie. Mike, Ben, and Bev had come over the next day to bring over their instruments, thinking it would be better to leave them at Richie, Eddie, and Stan’s apartment since that was where they would be practicing, which, at the very least, made sense to Eddie. The day after the instruments found their new homes, they began rehearsals, only getting a little work done the first day as Eddie hadn’t had time to write all the different accompaniment parts instruments separately yet. Eddie had apologized profusely but the others told him it was fine and that he could take his time. That night, Eddie didn’t sleep so he could make sure all the music was ready for their next rehearsal. Over the next 5 days, the group was able to perfect three of Eddie’s songs: _Arms Tonite_ , _Still Into You_ , and his newest song _True Love_ , but for the day or so that they worked on _True Love_ , Eddie noticed that Richie looked almost tense and uneasy, which Eddie made sure to make a mental note to ask him about when they worked on songwriting the next day.

\---

The next day came, and Eddie had gone into Richie’s room to work, still worrying about how Richie looked that night. Beverly had told them she was going to be late, so Richie and Eddie got to work. After about 20 minutes of Eddie delaying the inevitable, he asked, “What was up with my song the other day?”

The words spilled out a lot differently than he had planned them to. “What do you mean?” Richie wondered. Eddie took a deep breath before continuing. “Both days we worked on ‘True Love’ you looked like you hated it. So what’s wrong with it? I put a lot of time into that song, and if there’s a reason you don’t like it, I feel like I deserve to know.” 

Richie stood up from his keyboard and walked to the window, looking as if he was considering what to say. “It’s nothing Eds.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it Rich. Just tell me what’s wrong with the song and we can fix it.”

“Just drop it Eds, okay?” Richie finally looked away from the window, and back to Eddie, “Let’s just get back to writing.”

“Not until you tell me what’s wrong! Look, that song means a lot to me, but if you’re **that** uncomfortable with it, we don’t have to do it. I can write another song and we can just forget-”

“I’m not uncomfortable with it,” Richie said, a look of guilt coming over his face. Eddie panicked, thinking it meant that Richie realized that the song was about him and how now he’s going to have to reject Eddie. 

“It just doesn’t sound like you,” Eddie looked at Richie, confusion washing over him, “Do the words sound like you? Yes. But does the style of the song? No.” 

Eddie relaxed a little, but his panic was now replaced by uncertainty, “What does that even mean, Rich?”

“It just sounds like you’re trying too hard to make music that you **think** other people want to hear instead of writing music that **you** would want to hear.”

Eddie looked at Richie, stunned. “I love the lyrics Eds, but maybe we could just, I don’t know, slow it down a bit.” Eddie nodded at this and Richie sat down on his bed and started playing the notes on his keyboard, only softer and slower than they had been played previously.

(Start Playing the Song)

Key: “Eddie singing” ‘Richie singing’ (Both singing) (Basically, if you play the song, Eddie would be singing the Liv (girl) part and Richie would be singing the Holden (boy) part)

‘If I could do it all over maybe I’d do it different. Maybe I wouldn’t be here in this position’

Eddie stared at Richie, mesmerized, before slowly sitting down on the bed next to him.

“I found you then I lost you, looking back is torture and it hurts to know I’d let you go, you live right around the corner”

(And I coulda had it all, coulda had it all. True love, I knew I had it. True love was so hard to find. True love if I could get it back I’d never let it go this time.)

As the song picked up a bit, Eddie placed his hands on the keyboard, playing along with Richie as he sang, ‘True love’

“Is an inspiration”

‘True love’

“It was mine, oh, mine”

‘True love’

“Yeah” Eddie briefly looked over at Richie, seeing the taller boy blushing as the lyrics were sent out into the open. 

‘I’d never let it go’

“I’d never let it go”

(I’d never let it go this time)

Eddie looked down at their hands, noticing at the same time Richie did, that they both touched the same key to finish the song, meaning that their hands were touching.

Eddie looked up to see Richie already staring back at him, blushing yet again. He noticed that Richie hadn’t moved his hand away just yet, and he could swear he heard Bev in the back of his head screaming at him to ‘make a move already!’

So he did, after what felt like an eternity of staring into Richie’s soulful, dark eyes, he moved his gaze to Richie’s lips and slowly started to lean in. Now they were less than an inch apart and-

“Hey, guys! I’m so sorry I’m later than I said I’d be,” Bev burst through the door and the two boys went flying away from each other. “I really needed a coffee and you know how long the lines get,” Bev turned around and saw them sitting on opposite sides of the bed, looking as if they had been caught, but were trying to hide it. Bev looked between the two and giggled a bit before saying, “Am I interrupting something?”  
  
Eddie looked at her expectantly as Richie quickly squawked out a “No, we were just tweaking that True Love song Eddie Spaghetti wrote.”

“Don’t call me that, Trashmouth,” Eddie mumbled softly, not even looking at him, still in too much shock from what had almost happened to fully retort the nickname.

Richie darted up off of the bed, causing both Eddie and Bev to look at him. Bev, with a concerned face, and Eddie looked confused, but his face was also subtly laced with hurt. 

“I have to go! I just remembered that I’m going to be late for my shift at work. You know, gotta make sure the bills are paid and all that,” Richie laughed awkwardly.

“Oh, okay,” Eddie looked down, ashamed. How could he ever possibly think that Richie had feelings for him? What possessed him to even write that stupid _fucking_ song let alone allow Richie to hear it? Why did their hands have to touch when they finished playing the piano accompaniment? Why did Richie have to look at him as if he was the only thing in the world, or as if he had personally hung the moon and stars in the night sky? And most importantly, how could he have been so dumb for leaning in to kiss him?

Bev noticed the distress he was in, quickly stating that she had to use the bathroom before leaving the room and closing the door behind her, leaving the two boys alone again. 

When Eddie finally felt strong enough to look back up at the boy he loved with all his heart, he noticed guilt on Richie’s face. _It’s probably because he thinks you’re disgusting, and he feels bad for you._ Eddie looked away almost as soon as he had met Richie’s gaze, refusing to let himself cry. Not right now, not until Richie was gone and he could be alone with his emotions.

“Look, Eddie, I-” Richie stammered.

“Just go Richie, it’s fine. We can just forget about it, okay?” He forced himself to get up, and trailed back to his room, making sure the door was locked until he was absolutely sure that Richie was gone. Once he had done that, Eddie let his tears fall silently, as if to not alert anyone of what was happening.

After a few minutes, he heard a soft knocking at his door, accompanied by Bev’s sweet and gentle voice. “Can you let me in Eddie? Richie left if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Eddie quickly wiped away his tears, even though he was sure that his eyes would still be red and puffy when Bev saw him. Still, he went over to unlock the door and timidly let Bev in. As she stepped into the room, she simply looked at Eddie and sighed. All Eddie felt he could do at that moment was just sit back down on his bed and let his head fall into his hands. “I’m so stupid! Just once I had to fucking listen to that little voice in my head telling me to be brave and to do something about my feelings! I had to ruin everything we’ve been through together because I’m an idiot who caught feeling for, and tried to kiss, his childhood best friend, who on top of all that, I live with.”

Bev slowly approached Eddie, carefully sitting down beside him, and staying quiet for a few seconds to make sure he was done talking before she spoke up. “Eddie… I think you just fucked up,” she chuckled uncomfortably.

“No shit, Bev. Way to rub even **more** salt into the wound,” Eddie quipped.

“What I mean is,” Bev started, cutting Eddie off. “After you trapped yourself in here, I came out of my excellent hiding spot,”

“What? The bathroom?” Eddie countered.

“Don’t,” Bev warned before continuing on. “As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, I walked out and saw Richie reaching for your door handle, but pulled away at the last second, muttering about how he could be so stupid for thinking that you felt the same way.”

“What are you even talking about Bev? Whatever you’re thinking it meant, you’re wrong. You didn’t see the look he gave me once you left, he looked... sorry for me,” Eddie mumbled.

“Was he sorry for you? Or did he notice that you were upset and realized that he might have been that caused it?”

“That’s not-”  
  
“I’m not finished,” Bev said, quickly cutting Eddie off. “After he was done mumbling, he turned around and realized that I was there. He then said, and I quote, ‘please don’t tell him about this, it’s already bad enough he doesn’t have feelings for me.’ I mean you couldn’t deny that even if you tried to Eddie!”

Eddie looked at Bev, eyes wide in shock. Does Richie _actually_ feel the same way about him? 

Before Eddie could allow himself to overthink anything more than he already has, he shot off the bed. “Where is he now?”

“I don’t know. After that, he left so quickly that I didn’t even have the chance to ask him where he was going. And even if he is at work like he said he would be, it might not be the best idea to bring it up there, and I seriously doubt you want to text him about this.”

Eddie looked back down to the ground, feeling dejected because he knows that Bev’s right. “Great, that is just great,” he groaned, sitting back onto the bed, yet again.

“Eddie, he’ll be back later, you can talk to him then. His feelings for you aren’t going to change in a few hours,” Bev insisted. “And once he does get back, you are going to go up to him, tell him how you feel, and live happily ever after.”

Eddie laughed at this. In all honesty, he was glad he had a friend like Bev not only allowed him to wallow in his own self-pity when he needed to but would also tell him to stop being a pussy when she knew he could do better and/or be braver. “A guy can dream. In the meantime though, I have a song that you and I should get working on.”

\---

Eddie already had a basis for the song, which he actually wrote for Bev to sing, so all they had left to do was tweak the lyrics a bit and find a feel for the song that would fit not only Bev but also the band as a whole. Luckily, Bev was able to pick the key component of songwriting pretty easily, so despite it being her first time, they both were able to work at a good pace. 

After an hour or two, they had finished the song and moved on to just fucking around, and doing things they only got to do when it was just the two of them alone, like listen to musicals and ask each other more sincere questions. Eddie asked what it was like living with Ben while they are dating, and Bev asked how he was able to create so many songs that all provided an amazing story to the listener if they cared enough to really hear the words. They did this for hours until they heard someone come in through the front door, at which point, Eddie shot up and all but raced to his door, only to be greeted by Stan putting his bag down in the living room. 

“Hey, Eddie. It’s nice to know that you are excited to see me,” Stan said with a knowing look. Eddie averted his gaze away from Stan as Bev squeezed past him into the hall.

“Oh, don’t worry about him Stan, he’s just waiting for Richie to get back,” Bev laughed as she made her way to the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.

Eddie remained silent as he slowly turned on his heels, went back into his room, and sat at his desk, reflecting. From the living room, he could hear some laughter from Stan and Bev. At first, he didn’t quite understand why Stan was laughing, or how he seemed to know that he was not the one he had been hoping to see when he opened his door before a realization hit him. Not only did Stan seem to see and know everything that had to do with the group, but he was also Richie’s closest friend other than him. He genuinely wondered why he was even surprised at this point. If Bev knew how he felt about Richie, then obviously, Stan would definitely know how Richie felt about him (if what Bev had seen and heard was to be believed) especially because Stan and Richie had pretty much the same relationship he and Bev have, with a bit more bickering thrown in, but that's Richie for you. 

He was still lost in thought when he heard a knock at the door, looking over in time to see Stan opening the door.

“Hey Eddie, Bev just left, but I wanted to let you know that I booked you guys a gig. It’s a week from Saturday, at the bar we always go to. I reached out to the owner, and since he knows us well enough and doesn’t think we’re complete assholes, he said he’d give us a shot. I just wanted to give you a heads up so you can get any music you want the band to perform that night ready to go for our next rehearsal so everyone can get used to the songs in time.” Eddie looked over to Stan and smiled, nodding in agreement and understanding, which Stan took as his cue to head out, shutting the door behind him, as he didn't really have anything else he needed to tell Eddie, making his way down the hall to his room. 

Once he heard Stan's door close, Eddie sighed and got up from his desk chair, only to plop himself down on the bed, look up at the ceiling, and think about what he would say to Richie when he saw him next. Most likely tomorrow morning as he could feel himself drifting off to sleep, and he didn’t know if he’d still be awake by the time that Richie got back, with him almost always getting back pretty late whenever he said he had work, whether or not he actually did go to work that day. Curse his songwriting all-nighters. It’s fine, all of this will work out and I’ll tell him how I feel.

Eddie, for once in his life, allow himself to take a deep breath and relax. Even if it was only for one night, he was going to let himself believe that Richie was in love with him too and that if all goes well tomorrow, it would almost be like a silent ‘Fuck you’ to his mom, who had always hated Richie even more than the rest of his friends, who she wasn't particularly fond of either. Obviously, that wasn’t the main reason he was excited, it was just an added bonus. Ultimately, if all goes well, Eddie would finally be able to say that the love of his life, finally saw him and wanted him as much as Eddie did. But for now, all Eddie did was drift asleep and dream of love songs and Richie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone. After 2 months I finally finished and am posting this chapter. I'm really sorry for such a long wait, but I am currently a senior in high school so this story was put on the back burner for a bit, as my applications and auditions currently come first. I hope this chapter being longer kinda makes up for it.
> 
> I'm really sorry if this chapter kinda sucks, but I had some extra time and motivation the last couple of days to finish complete this and I wanted to get this chapter out as soon as possible. I'm hoping it doesn't take me as long to finish the next chapter, but I can't make any promises with all that I have going on :(
> 
> Anyway, on a lighter note, I hope you all are doing well, that you guys had a great Halloween, and that despite everything going on in the world right now, you are able to find time to relax and destress in any way that you can.
> 
> Also, if you couldn't tell by my use of the word "audition" earlier, I am a theatre kid, so of course I had to make Bev and Eddie theatre kids like me.
> 
> Before you go, there is one last thing I think I should mention, the real drama of this story is going to start next chapter so I hope you're all prepared and excited for some incoming angst ;)


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